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Four area leaders join PSP Board

Drexel University president, founder of Philadelphia Insurance Co., and two area nonprofit CEOs share PSP’s commitment to create and expand high-quality schools in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) announced today that John Anderson Fry, President of Drexel University, Stacy Holland, President & CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN), James J. Maguire, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corporation, and Natalye Paquin, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, have joined the board of the educational nonprofit that invests in the creation and expansion of high-quality schools for all children in Philadelphia.

“We are thrilled to welcome a diverse group of Philadelphia’s most experienced education and business leaders to the board of the Philadelphia School Partnership,” said Mike O’Neill, Board Chairman of PSP. “John, Stacy, Jim and Natalye bring a wide range of perspective and skills from working in all sectors of education. Most importantly, they are committed to furthering our mission of ensuring a great school for every child in Philadelphia.”

John Anderson Fry was appointed Drexel University’s 14th president in 2010 and has served in higher education his entire professional life, first as a consultant and then as an executive. In addition to serving as president of Drexel University, Fry is president of the Drexel University College of Medicine and chairman and CEO of Drexel e-Learning, Inc., the University’s for-profit subsidiary marketing online Drexel degree programs. Prior to joining Drexel, he served as president of Franklin & Marshall College since 2002, and was instrumental in the college’s academic growth, campus and neighborhood development and improved finances. From 1995 to 2002, he served as executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania.

Fry serves on the boards of Lafayette College, The Shipley School, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Select Greater Philadelphia, the Schuylkill River Development Corporation and US Squash. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Fry studied American civilization at Lafayette College and received the George Wharton Pepper Prize, the highest honor awarded to a graduating senior. In 1986, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from the New York University Stern School of Business.

Stacy E. Holland serves as the President & CEO of Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN), a nonprofit organization she co-founded in 1999, which serves as a catalyst for collective action by developing and delivering models that change systems and improve educational and economic outcomes for youth. She has more than 20 years of experience working to ensure that youth in the Philadelphia region have access to the academic, career and support services necessary to build bright futures and prepare them to be leaders in the workforce. Prior to her work with PYN, Holland served as Chief of Staff at the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation. She has also held positions at Delaware Valley College, La Salle University and Marymount Manhattan College.

Holland serves on the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation Board, is on the Board of Trustees of the Community College of Philadelphia, and is Co-Chair of The Intermediary Network (INet). She holds an undergraduate degree from The College of New Jersey in Marketing and a graduate degree in Student Development from Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, she was awarded a Philadelphia Business Journal 40 Under 40 Award in 2005 and is a 2012 recipient of the Smart CEO Brava Award.

James J. Maguire is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corporation. In 1980, Mr. Maguire formed the holding company, which today owns several subsidiaries including Maguire Insurance Agency, Inc., Philadelphia Insurance Company, Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, and Liberty American Insurance Group. In 2008, Maguire initiated and completed what was then the largest transaction for financial firms in Japanese history, selling the holding company for $5.5 billion to Tokio Marine Insurance Group.

Maguire, a Korean War veteran, is a past member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for The Pennsylvania Insurance Federation. He was the first lay Chairman of the Board of Cabrini College and past Vice Chairman of the Board of Saint Joseph’s University. He previously served as Co-Chair of St. Joseph’s University $150 million Capital Campaign and as the Chairman of the Capital Campaign for St. Vincent’s Shelter in Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Maguire are founders & principal officers of The Maguire Foundation, a philanthropic enterprise which focuses its resources on education. Maguire is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University.

Natalye Paquin has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania since joining the organization in 2010. Prior to that, Paquin was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Kimmel Center, Inc., directing day-to-day operations across three venues – Kimmel Center, Academy of Music and Merriam Theater. She previously served as Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer of the School District of Philadelphia. She has also held positions with the City of Chicago and The Chicago Public Schools.

Paquin sits on the board of National Penn Bank and National Penn Bancshares. She currently serves on the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and is Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Philadelphia Award. As an engaged civic leader, past board memberships have included, the School of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board of St. Joseph University, City Year, Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, The Philadelphia Education Fund, Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia Boys’ Choir, Center City District, and Leadership Philadelphia. She received her J.D. degree from DePaul University, College of Law and a B.S. from Florida A&M University.

About the Philadelphia School Partnership

PSP is a nonprofit organization founded in October 2010 that invests in the creation and expansion of great schools in Philadelphia. PSP is raising a $100 million “Great Schools Fund” in support of education reform, and investing those funds as growth capital to support the transformation, expansion and startup of high-performing schools in the public and private sectors. It measures success by the number of students in Philadelphia who move out of failing schools to better-quality school options, and it judges school quality on the basis of student academic outcomes.